"Consumers should not be swayed by the sensationalist headlines that may come across the Internet related to this so-called research," the groups said.

"Fragranced fabric care products are safe when used as directed. The safe and responsible manufacture and use of cleaning products is an absolute top priority within our industry," the groups added.

According to the release, the manufacturer groups expressed disappointment that the paper''s authors exploited their findings of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emanating from dryer vents based on a dataset of such limited size and plagued by the confounding effects of their study design.